A Place to Be BornSample

I DON'T STOP

“In those days, a decree by Caesar Augustus was published, summoning the entire population of the Empire to register. This, the first census, was taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. They were all going to enlist, each to his own city. ”  (Luke 2:1-3)

Everything was a mess. Each family in the Roman Empire was to return to their patriarch's hometown for the census, and so Joseph and Mary made their way to Bethlehem. Joseph, a descendant of the great King David, took his pregnant wife with him a long way in hopes of finding a dignified inn that would help them to rest from their journey, but found only agitation. Everything was packed and, even with his wife in labor, he didn't get the attention of the innkeepers. That stable was the only place open to the Savior, and the animals, his hosts. 

Despite the temporal distance between us and the day of Jesus' birth, a similarity cannot go unnoticed: human beings keep running from one side to the other and, in their unbridled search for their interests, they end up forgetting to look at the needy who cry by the wayside. Sometimes, moved by the “Christmas spirit”, some are constrained to do good deeds, but without a commitment to keep them for the rest of the year, they make charity an act of conscience relief, not love.

When we turn our eyes to the Word of God, we see that all the agitation that surrounds us is no justification for neglecting people and their needs, as the apostle Paul directs us: “And let us not tire of doing good, because in time sure we will reap the harvest, if we do not lose heart. Therefore, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, but especially to those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6.9, 10) 

Don't wait for Christmas week and its philanthropic campaigns to help those in need, as there is so much need around us and Christ was born, lived and died so that we, his church, his adoring servants, could be his arms tirelessly stretched out to satiate the hunger for bread and love. Stop for a moment! Take a break from running around and look around. There is certainly someone who needs Jesus, and He has chosen you to represent him.